‘Exciting’ times for Tararua ahead

A housing shortage and a rise in forestry plantations are two challenges that whoever wins Tararua’s mayoralty will have to face, says incumbent mayor Tracey Collis.

Collis is up against Mitch Mchardy and James Harold in the race for Tararua’s mayoralty.

Collis said the next three years would be an exciting time for the district, and whoever won would have to deal with major opportunities and big challenges.

The planned new Manawatu¯ -Hawke’s Bay highway had put Tararua on the map, bringing new jobs, residents and tourism opportunities.

But the new-found attention had also created challenges in other areas, from housing to forestry, she said.

Collis said the housing shortage had reached rural New Zealand just as Tararua was experiencing faster than expected population growth.

A lot of young families were moving to Tararua, where house prices were still relatively affordable despite rising 20 per cent a year on average, and that was expected to pick up with the completion of the new highway and a new $4.4m rail centre in Dannevirke, she said.

The council has budgeted $250,000 a year to extend its infrastructure networks to cope.

It’s also launched an $80,000 investigation into how many, and how quickly, houses can be built in residential zones, and where new new residential zones should go, if further infrastructure expansion was needed.

Another key issue facing Tararua was forestry.

Collis said the district had seen a lot of productive land taken over by pine trees, as the more profitable carbon-credit plantations displaced the sheep and beef farms that had traditionally supported large parts of the Tararua community.

‘‘That’s caused a lot of stress in the community, because they know that it’s likely to be a permanent shift.’’

While Collis plans her bid to retain leadership of the council, Andy Thompson and deputy mayor Allan Benbow have decided not to seek re-election.

Thompson said he had taken a senior human resources role with international development organisation The Pacific Community, and will be moving to Fiji to start his new job in October.

The Pacific Community is owned and governed by 26 Pacific countries and was originally called The South Pacific Committee when it was founded in 1947.

He was most proud of his work on the Works Liaison Committee, where he helped shepherd in several major infrastructure improvements that had made life better for Tararua residents.

Thompson said he’d faced a steep learning curve as a first-time councillor, and advised anyone who found themselves in the same position to lean on council staff and more experienced councillors, who would help them find their feet.

‘‘Keep an open mind. It’s a whole new world when you get on the council.’’

Benbow was bowing out in the hopes of instead getting a seat on Horizons Regional Council instead.

Benbow said there were a number of regional issues, including the One Plan, which impacted Tararua, and he could better advocate for the district from a seat on the regional council.

The councillors who are standing for re-election have all put in the hard yards since the 2016 election, averaging 95 per cent attendance at council, committee meetings and workshops.

Peter John had the best record, excluding Kerry Sutherland, who has had a 100 per cent attendance since he stepped in to fill a vacant council seat in December.

John was present for 98 per cent of his 90 scheduled council meetings over the past council term.

Collis was close behind with 95 per cent attendance out of 101 scheduled meetings.

The mayor was on a roughly even footing with councillor Shirley Hull, who was present for 95 per cent of 77 scheduled meetings and attended 15 additional committee meetings.